The Devouring Darkness
by Terrible Goodbye
Summary: The world has seemed at peace for years. But now, a new force has begun attacking, and it's up to a new group of teenager's to stop it, no matter the cost. However, it doesn't help that each of them have their own secret motives. OC's, Post Story Line.


**Hey everybody! Welcome to my first work on this account. It's a post-story line fic, and while some allusions will be made to the original story, It'll be mainly new characters. Expect action, adventure, some romance, humor, and anything else you can think of. Sorry if the first chapter's a bit boring, it's just to get it rolling. Please, review! :D**

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It's been quite a while since Avatar Aang returned balance to the world. During that time, old scars have been mended, new generations begun, and other Avatar's have taken over for him. It wasn't easy, but peace seemed to have returned to the world.

Key word: **Seemed.**

Inside a carriage, headed towards Ba Sing Sei, three water tribe teenagers sat together. One, with short black hair, stared out the window, fiddling with the spear in his right hand. The second looked quite bookish, completing the looked with thin-rimmed glasses that he kept pushing up. The third, however, had a much more dignified aura to him, including his higher quality of clothing.

"Cheer up, Aji. The conference won't be that bad." Glasses-boy sighed as pushed up his spectacles once more. The continuous bouncing of the cart wasn't helping much.

"It's not the conference I'm worried about, Jing. I just really don't want to see her again." The dignified boy, with chocolate brown hair, shuddered just thinking of who he would have to meet in a few hours. She was definitely not his favorite person in the world.

"C'mon. As next in line to lead the northern water tribe, don't you think you could spend a few measly hours with her?" Jing shot back at his childhood friend, hoping they would reach Ba Sing Sei soon enough.

Sighing, Aji turned to face the window. When Jing played that card, he knew that there was no need for further discussion. Long ago, the heir had come to accept anything his parents told him to do, no matter how little amount of sense it made. For now, staring out the window and dreaming of a more glamorous adventure was his muse.

"We'll be getting of soon, you two." The last boy spoke up, finally ripping his gaze from the passing scenery, "Get ready." Compared to the other two, this teenager was much more serious about his duty, never letting his strait face waiver.

"Are you sure, Pak Shin? I don't see Ba Sing Sei any-" Aji stopped the second the carriage did. Now glancing out the side Pak Shin had been staring at, he smiled at the capital. Even as he was rushed out of the car, the heir felt a sort of awe looking up at the stone city had seemed like something unimaginable to the water tribe boy.

"Come on now, they've arranged an escort for us." Jing smiled, waving the two others towards the city. As the intimidating stone walls cracked open, Aji gulped. No matter how many times he had been here, he hadn't been able to quite get over the filth. It made his skin crawl.

The doors soon closed behind them, leaving the three water tribe boys to look about for their escort.

"Ah. You must be the water tribe guests." A black haired girl approached the other teens, adorned in earth kingdom attire. "I'll be your escort to the palace. You can call me Mona." She smiled, sticking out her hand in greeting.

Jing took her hand quickly, accepting her welcome. Aji followed his friend's movements, giving a hollow smile back towards Mona. However, Pak Shin was not pleased.

"Why did they send you to escort us? You can't possibly be part of the royal guard. Are they degrading us?" He complained, eyeing the earth kingdom teenager suspiciously.

Flashing a smile, as well as a collection of smile knives, Mona began to walk the other direction. "If you trust that the Earth King has sent the correct escort, then follow me. If not, you probably won't make it in time."Without hesitation, the water tribe boys followed the dangerous woman.

"What unit do you belong to then?" Pak Shin questioned, walking closely by the leader.

"It's a special operational unit. We aren't the main guards or soldiers, but rather a group of different people who are called in to help out the king when needed. Can't tell you anything more, really." She sighed, looking over the teenager. "And I'm guessing you belong to a solider unit in your tribe?"

As the other two began to speak of weapons and rankings, Aji and Jing walked in silence. The heir looked about at the buildings, both amazed and disgusted by the city. However, the scholar was busy calculating out the schedule for the rest of the trip. Order was important to Jing.

"Do me a favor, Mona!" A yell was heard. Instantly, the girl demanded the boys to duck, looking towards the top of the building. "Hold onto this for a while!" Another yell rang out, much closer this time.

Maybe it was his imagination, or maybe he had really seen it. Aji wasn't sure. All he could tell we when he heard the second bellow, there was a figure that resembled a girl, flying past their escort, dropping of some sort of package in her hands.

Tucking the small package in her pocket before he had a good chance to look at it, Mona allowed them to stand back up once more.

"What exactly was that?" Jing spewed, angry at his inability to grasp the situation.

"An old friend of mine." She laughed, but at the same time, seemed like she didn't want to talk about it much more. Dropping the subject, they continued on to the entrance.

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"Ah! Prince Aji, so nice to see you again. I see you've arrived a bit early as well." The Earth King smiled, greeting the foreigners in his chambers. "Such a pleasure to see your friends as well. ""Oh-uh. Yeah, pleasure to see you as well, Your Majesty." As Aji bowed towards the king, the figure from before hand was still wracking his mind. The whole experience had made him feel a rush, but why, he wasn't sure.

Dismissing Mona, the king began to smile once more. "There's someone whose been waiting to see you, prince. Sanakaaaaaaaa!" The king called out to his daughter. Before she had even entered the room, the foreigners had gone pale.

"AJI!" She screamed in delight as she skipped into the room. Wasting no time latching onto the heir, she began to rub her greasy dark hair all over his arm. Making a face towards his friends, they shrugged, as if to say 'You're on your own'.

Attempting to pull himself away, her grasp only tightened. In the midst of the reunion, nobody had noticed Mona re-enter the room.

"Your Majesty!" She proclaimed, breathing heavily, "The northern water tribe has fallen!"

Instantly, the rest of the room turned to look at her.

"W-what?"

"We've just received word of it, Your Majesty! They were attacked by a new force. Someone's just been sent to collect data, but... I don't know if we'll even be able to get near that place."

The three boys began to spew out questions, and Sanaka let go of her crush.

"Silence!" The royal yelled, gaining the rooms attention. "Mona, please go fetch my tactical adviser. Quickly!"She ran out of the now silent room, returning just a few moments later.

The tactical advisor, an older man who looked ready to wage war at any second, sighed gruffly as the Earth King demanded he create a plan towards this outrage."Your Majesty, I feel just as much sympathy for the water tribe as you do. But we can't allow our troops to move and put our own lands at risk."

"So you'll put all of my people at risk! I thought we had an agreement, Earth King. That our nations would help each other in times of need!" Aji spat out, furious. The conference had caused his tribe to be even more susceptible invasions, as well as it being a time of celebration more then preparing for war.

"Now now, don't be so hasty, Prince Aji. While I can't move a squadron, I can set up a small elite force to at least in-"

"We'll all be going with the force." Pak Shin stepped in, once again grabbing tightly onto his weapon, "We need to make sure our tribe's alright."The other two nodded, agreeing with their friend.

"Your Majesty, if I can assemble a team to do this, will you allow me to take that team?" Mona spoke up, turning her attention to the King.

"I suppose at this point, we have no choice. Mona, you may collect the team. Prince Aji, you are dismissed from the conference, so you may leave as soon as possible."Bowing to the king once more, the four hurried out.

"What's the plan?" The scholar managed to say, out of breath from running, already.

"None, right now." She spewed back, leading the way through the winding streets of the capital.

"What do you mean you've got no plan!" Pak Shin and Jing echoed, barely keeping up with her fast pace. Aji, with a troubled look on his face, remained quiet.

"Not yet anyway. Right now, we've got to go collect a few people." Ending the discussion there, the two water tribe boys swallowed their complaints, and continued to follow their guide.

As they ventured farther away from the palace, the buildings became more and more run down. Soon enough, the group was running through a much shadier area.

"Is it really necessary to come this way?" Aji shivered as he looked at his surroundings. These type of places didn't sit to well with him.

Mona didn't answer, but rather slowed down. Opening a door to a very shady looking bar, she motioned the boys to follow her. Reluctantly they followed her lead.

The bar was dimly lit and empty, containing only the bartender. But that seemed to be all Mona needed.

"Jun. I suppose you already know of the situation at hand?" She kept a serious face, taking a seat at the bar. Jun had long black hair, hanging over his shoulder, as well as glasses that framed his face. Nodding, his eyes glazed over the foreigners.

"Then you know why we're here?" Nodding once more, the bartender sighed. Taking of his apron, Jun grabbed a narrow bag from under the counter.

"I'll expect payment at some point." He sighed, eyeing the water tribe prince. "You three can call me Jun."

After a few awkward introductions by the water tribe teenagers, Mona sighed. "Now's the hard part. Convincing the last two." This statement earned questioning looks from the foreigners, as well as a sigh from the bartender.

"I'll handle Ling Yun. I'll meet up with you later, at the gates." Jun sighed, walking towards the door. "C'mon. We need to start as soon as possible."

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**I know it's kinda short, but work with me here. I'll have an update ASAP :D **


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